Chess is often referred to as the ‘game of the royals’, and has been a favourite among Indian students for centuries! It is a favourite amongst our BYJU’S students too many of whom are state level and national level achievers in the field. This Chess Day, we look at some Indian Geniuses who reached International fame due to their brilliant chess play. We hope these players inspire you to learn and improve yourself at the game, always aiming to be the best!

Padmini Rout : Padmini Rout has been a world champion since 2008. Her first big win was the World Under-14 Championship and since then she has been getting only laurels for the country. She attained the title of Grandmaster for the first time in 2015, when she defeated Tamir Nabaty of Israel in Gibraltar. Hailing from Odisha, she was felicitated by the Government of Odisha with the Eklavya Award at the age of 15.

Humpy Koneru : A chess genius since her childhood, Koneru bagged three gold medals at the the World Youth Chess Championships (Under-10 Girls, Under-12 girls and Under-14 Girls). She also won the Asian Youth Chess Championship in 1999, she won playing against boys too. Post her win she was honoured with the title ‘Asia’s Youngest Woman International Master’, and her future wins helped her attain the prestigious Arjuna Award and Padma Shri.

Harika Dronavalli : Renowned for her 2016 win at the Fide Women’s Grand Prix, held in China, Harika rose from world number 11 to world number 5 in women’s FIDE rating. Her first win was an Under-9 National Championship which was followed by a Silver medal at the World Youth Chess Championship for Under-10 girls.

Darpan Inani : This 24 year old is India’s only blind chess player to win an international award, he is also the youngest player to have won the National Blind Chess championship. With a never-give-up attitude Darpan is also an aspiring chartered accountant, plays the table and harmonium and has a yellow belt in karate. He was also featured in a chess documentary film- Algorithms, directed by Ian Mcdonald.

Vidit Santosh Gujrati : Obtaining the title of grandmaster at the age of 18, Vidit is currently the third highest rated chess player in india after Vishwanthan Ananad and Pentala Krishna.

Ankita Dutta is a STORYWEAVER at BYJU’S. Avid reader and writer by day, a classical singer by night, Harry Potter nerd, a film aficionado, and the classroom joker in her yesteryear. Ankita believes that words can influence to a point where they change personalities and ideologies. Wish to contact her about intriguing debates, writing trends and stories? Drop in a mail to storyweavers@byjus.com

Honestly speaking I don’t know nothing about chess except that it has two colours-black and white, and I had never interest in playing chess.
But after reading this I’m willing to learn to play it.
Thanks for sharing this story with us because if you hadn’t shared this then maybe I might’ve not shown any interest in such an interesting game-CHESS.
So again thank you so much.

Watch

Get a call from BYJU’S experts to understand how BYJU’S Learning Programs can help you learn better and score higher

This page is having a slideshow that uses Javascript. Your browser either doesn't support Javascript or you have it turned off. To see this page as it is meant to appear please use a Javascript enabled browser.

Testimonial

Jay Gupta

"Learning has become so much fun after using BYJU’S app. A big thank you to the whole team of BYJU’S teachers for constantly motivating me."

Arnav

"It’s a great app for all the self-learners. Thank you BYJU’S for providing such an amazing learning platform"

Rahul Krishna

"Learning so much fun on BYJU’S app. I love to learn math and challenge my friends on quizzo. Thank you BYJU’S for making me a better learner"